Their mission? A unanimous response of ”serving the game.”

From Super Bowl winners Merton Hanks, Matt Birk and Roman Oben to veterans Dwight Hollier, Keith Elias, Charles Way, Patrick Kerney and James Thrash, life after football has meant, well, football.

But in an entirely different role and with a more all-encompassing focus than in their playing days.

”Everything has changed so much in and around the league since I retired in 2000,” says former 49ers star Hanks, the NFL’s vice president of football operations. ”I think at the end of the day we are all … charged with the future of the league, the future of the game and how we can contribute to making sure that it’s healthy, it’s whole, and vibrant and growing.”

Adds Matt Birk, a center for 14 seasons who won the Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2012, then retired: ”Whether it’s a consultant for both the NFL and the NFLPA or working full time for the NFL, I get to serve the game, and for me, I believe in the power of football. Football helped make me a better person and I saw firsthand how football brings people together, whether it was in my community growing up or now how I bond with my kids around it. So, for me, it’s being able to serve the game that’s given me so much.”

Each of the nine has varying roles.

Birk is the league’s director of football development and serves as a liaison with youth football and international football groups as well as with players, coaches and front office personnel.

Oben is the director of youth football; Hollier directs transition and clinical services; Way heads the player engagement department – a role current football operations boss Troy Vincent once held; Elias and Thrash are a part of Way’s staff; and Kerney handles player benefits.

Having played in the league is a huge aid as the former players deal with a myriad issues and constituents.

”Interestingly enough, the platform of being a former player helps us in each of our platforms differently,” Elias says. ”In our prep platform, we speak to youth, you get 30 seconds now to get your message out, and if they’re not entertained, they’re going to shut you up, but you at least get that 30 seconds. With our current players, it’s important sometimes that they know you’ve chewed some of the same dirt, you’ve had some of the same experiences. And with our former players, not only did you have the shared playing experience, but then you have the shared transition experience, which is unique.

”It has some unique and challenging obstacles and unless you’ve faced it, unless you’ve walked through it, it’s hard to say `Oh I know how you feel.’ `’

That these men do know how their peers feel is specifically important when players are leaving the field for good.

”That’s been extremely helpful, especially as I’ve had conversations with guys who are in varying levels of transition,” Hollier says. ”Understanding where they’re coming from because I’ve been at that stage at some point.”

His boss, Way, adds that key skills for athletes can also be applied as effectively in another career.

”We use that in this office and in terms of leadership being transferrable, you wake up every day, you prepare, you want to win and you learn from your losses,” he says. ”I think we all share that.”

In some ways, Oben might have the most difficult challenge.

His job is to not only help develop and promote coaching and safety initiatives on the youth level, but to convince parents that football is worthwhile for their children. That means coming up with such programs as Heads Up Football, designed by USA Football, the national governing body of the sport, and embraced by the NFL.

”We are not afraid of failure,” Oben says, adding that he is seeing anything but failure. ”I’m seeing defensive ends and linebackers ease up when they go by a quarterback – in sixth and seventh grade. I’m seeing (kids) help these guys up. I’m seeing parents clap for both teams. I’m seeing emails going out that say, `make sure you encourage the other team and stand up if someone gets injured.’

”I’m seeing that, but I wouldn’t see that unless I saw Jason Pierre-Paul slow up when he’s getting ready to tackle someone. I see that on Saturday afternoons, Friday nights, and you see it on Sundays.”

Actually, Oben and his cohorts are seeing a lot more football now than they did while playing. They’re enjoying the all-encompassing view while attacking the future the same way they confronted opponents on the field.

”I think one of our core values is resiliency,” Way says. ”To a man, to a player, to an executive, you are always going to have some hurdles or obstacles that you are going to have to overcome. But that’s why we study tape. That’s why we accept that criticism, because we know that we are not perfect. But we will get it right the next time.”

—

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

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Boldin said on Saturday that Baltimore might have to do a restructuring of some sort, but to this point and his knowledge, the Ravens have not.

As for his future, Boldin told Schefter that he would speak with his family before he makes any decisions, but as far as he is concerned and knows, he is planning to play for Baltimore next season under the terms of his current contract.

Boldin is scheduled to earn $6 million in the coming season. He carries a $7.531 million salary-cap figure.

Fox Sports initially reported Saturday that Baltimore gave Boldin an ultimatum: Take a pay cut or get cut on Tuesday. USA Today Sports later reported that Boldin had rejected Baltimore’s offer but that the sides were still discussing the matter, and that Boldin is prepared to test free agency if Baltimore releases him.

ESPN and other media outlets have reported that the Ravens do want to reduce Boldin’s salary as they try to free cap space to retain free-agent linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.

The Ravens were expected to keep Boldin after the team didn’t have to use the franchise tag on quarterback Joe Flacco, who signed a six-year, $120.6 million deal.

In the playoffs, Boldin caught 22 passes for 380 yards receiving (95 yards per game) and four touchdowns. He has led Baltimore in receiving yards in each of the past three seasons since being traded from Arizona.

Boldin, 32, said last month that he would retire if he was cut by the Ravens. Since the Ravens won the Super Bowl, linebacker Ray Lewis and center Matt Birk have retired and Baltimore has released guard Bobbie Williams.

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Next stop, New Orleans.

After one final practice at their own training facility, the Super Bowl-bound Ravens will take Sunday off before heading for the Big Easy on Monday afternoon in anticipation of their matchup on Feb. 3 against the San Francisco 49ers.

“We’re right where we want to be,” wide receiver Torrey Smith said. “Now we have an opportunity to play in the big one. But at the end of the day, we’re still getting ready for a football game.”

Coach John Harbaugh conducted practice from Thursday through Saturday as if it was a normal work week. They went hard on Thursday and Friday and eased up Saturday.

“We’ve had a great week. We had an excellent practice,” Harbaugh said after the closed two-hour session. “The guys are very sharp and they’re excited. We’ll have to go down there and do just as well (or) do better.”

The next time the Ravens hit the practice field, it will be in New Orleans. This week, at least, there were no distractions.

“I think it’s always important to have a good practice no matter what,” Harbaugh said. “You’ve got to practice well to play well. You pretty much play the way you practice. That’s something that we learned when we were kids and that’s not going to change.”

It was final practice at the team’s training complex for Ray Lewis, who intends to retire after the Super Bowl. Center Matt Birk has made no such announcement, but there is a possibility the 36-year-old is also preparing for his last game.

“I don’t think like that,” Birk said. “I just try to live in the moment. That’s just kind of my mindset. I don’t think about the future or if this could be it. It drives my wife nuts, but that’s just not how I operate.”

Now in his 15th NFL season — the fourth with Baltimore — Birk’s knees are scarred from several operations and he had surgery during the offseason to repair varicose veins in his legs. But he played in all 16 games during the regular season and remained solid in the middle of the offensive line during the postseason.

“I’m not sure about Matt’s plans,” Harbaugh said. “If he decides to come back next year that would be awesome. He’s smart, he’s tough. To my eye, he’s playing the best football that he’s played since he’s been here, right now. To have that be true at the end of a (long) season is very impressive. We would not be where we are without Matt Birk.”

Looking ahead to the challenge next Sunday, Harbaugh called the 49ers “a very well-coached football team.” He said it with a grin, because San Francisco is coached by his little brother, Jim.

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